August of 2014

Eight years have passed since my son asked me why I was so upset by the Christmas Season. At the time I told him to let me think for a couple of days and then I would tell him. He agreed. I sat down and wrote an 8,500 word story for him about The Nobody. In this story a single man who lived "next to the nice part of town" with a room mate, Curtis who was discouraged about his value and the direction of his life. Our Nobody worked in an athletic shoe store and was the bottom of the staff. He was liked but hardly noticed and has the least influence of anyone in the store.

Our Nobody loved to run and one night decided to go for a run from the athletic store to the top of a 1,200 foot high ridge that started just across the street from the store. Because his car had broken down, he had to be back by 11 PM to catch the last bus back to his apartment.

On the run he met an athlete who was bigger and stronger than anyone he had met. Our Nobody, a man named Aaron, thought this athlete might be an Olympian. Aaron tried to move out of his way but the stronger one slowed and asked if he could run with Aaron. He agreed as long as the stronger one would go ahead if Aaron was too slow.

They ran to the top together, talking and getting to know each other. When they got to the top, the stronger one performed a miracle for Aaron, changing his life forever. The stronger one told Aaron that he and those like him did not call this place Earth. They called it The Arena of God.

Aaron was amazed, confused, and overwhelmed by the experience. When Aaron got home he found his room mate ready to kill himself in despair. Aaron used his experience to change his room mate, Curtis's mind about life and his self worth.  This gave Curtis a new way of living.

When I read this story to my son, he got it. He understood my frustration with the way Christmas was celebrated. We communicated.

This story sat in my computer for several years until a friend from Oregon came to visit my home during my very difficult divorce. She and her husband walked the tight rope of emotion between my soon to be ex and myself. She asked about this story that I had shared with her four years earlier. We dug it out of my computer and re-read it. We both liked it and were touched. She told me this had to become a book.  I needed to have a positive project at the time. I thanked Annie and went to work. Over the next couple of years it turned into my first novel and the first in a series of seven.

When I sat down to write the story, a man walked into my mind. I had always threatened to write a book about Gideon, Jonah, and Me, three men who tried to escape from God, but failed. The man who walked into my mind was Gideon Jones. He was fifty something. Like me he had been through a difficult divorce and had a wonderful son. He was a Vietnam Veteran. In the story, he moved from the San Jose area to a beautiful coastal town in a pristine county, Santuario County. He started a construction business in a 4,000 square foot warehouse he won in an auction. He called his business the Construction Concierge and supported construction projects in the county. He found a wonderful partner who had recently moved from Iran with his family. His new partner helped him rebuild a tiny home on an acre up on the Ridge Road above town. They worked together and began to prosper.

Mo, the partner from Iran, lived in a condo complex near Aaron and Curtis who were doing much better now. Aaron asked Mo to bring Gideon Jones to a meeting. In that meeting Aaron asked the two men to help his Aunt Britta through a difficult divorce. That was the beginning of The Arena of God.

There are many people living in the county; some good and some really bad. Life here was like most other places except it become a hot spot in the Battle that Rages Everyday.

Just like where you live, this town, in this county, is in the Arena of God.

The Arena of God is now a 354 page novel that will be published this month. In the next few weeks I will publish a link in this blog to lead you to a website called acoastaltown.org which where you can learn more about the book.  You will also be able to purchase a copy.

If you are, or know a veteran, this will be a very good tool to help explain the war experience.  As most know, there are many good reasons why veterans don't talk about the war. This novel shares the insights of a veteran and presents a new way of thinking about the world in which we live.

I hope this series provokes discussion and that people get a chance to talk about some very important aspects of their lives. I give this project to you out of brotherly love.

Brian Oldham August 2014